Thursday, October 23, 2003

Stolen ancient idol on its way back

Razen ManandharKathmandu, October 22[2003

The 400-year-old masterpiece from Patan, which was stolen 19 months agoand was about to be sold to a museum in Austria, is to be returned toNepal, thanks to some Buddhist sympathisers and scholars of Austria.

The 1.2-metre tall gilded head of Dipankar Buddha was stolen on February16, 2002 from its caretaker's house at Chibah Nani in Nag Bahal. Thetrust members reported the theft to the

District Police Office but in vain. The idol was discovered later when aGerman art dealer, Peter Hardt, tried to sell it to Dr Schicklgruber,the curator for South Asian art of the Ethnographic Museum in Vienna, ata price of $200,000 (Rs 16 million) in May 2002. When it was identifiedas a stolen object by scholars of University of Vienna, with the help ofthe Buddhist community of Lalitpur, the matter was reported to theInterpol and the case taken to the court, which has now ordered toreturn the image to Nepal.

"A series of lucky incidents led to the idol's discovery," Dr Alexanderv Rosatt, who had been involved in rescuing the stolen idol, told TheHimalayan Times today. He hoped that this particular incident would setan example and it would make the smuggling of ancient art objects moredifficult in the future.

A special function is being organised on Friday in Kathmandu to handover the idol to the rightful owners. As Nepal does not have separateAustrian ambassador to Nepal, the Austrian ambassador to India, JuttaSetfan Bastl, is coming here with her credentials to hand over the idolto the trust members through officials of Ministry of Culture, afterreceiving credentials from King Gyanendra on the same day.

The idol would be flown free of cost courtesy Austrian Airlines and theadditional insurance and handling expenses will be met by local trustmembers. Nepali government has not spent anything for the grand return.

It is the third instance when a stolen ancient idol is being returned toNepal, largely due to the efforts of the destination countries.

A local heritage lover said before the stolen object ended up with awestern art dealer, it was burgled by locals, sold by Nepali middlemenand exported with the connivance of Nepali government officials.According to him, it was officially exported with the properdocumentation of the Department of Archaeology.

"Unfortunately the western art dealer preferred to keep mum and theNepalis, including the government officials, involved in the smugglinghave escaped the net," said another expert on cultural heritage.[The Himalayan Times (Kathmandu), October 23, 2003]